Scientists study new arterial growth

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 30, 2005 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Researchers in San Francisco say they have discovered part of the genetic mechanism that causes new arteries to grow in response to blocked arteries.

A team led by Dr. Rajabrata Sarkar, a San Francisco Veterans Administration Medical Center vascular surgeon, demonstrated in mice the MMP2 gene is essential for the growth of new arteries when the femoral artery is blocked.

The team also identified and described, for the first time, the specific DNA sequences of the MMP2 gene that are expressed when new arteries are grown.

"It is not clear why some patients grow new arteries in response to an arterial blockage and others do not," said Sarkar, who is also an assistant professor of surgery at the University of California-San Francisco. "So it's very important to understand the normal process that allows an animal or a person to grow new arteries when their legs don't get good blood flow."

The study appears in the Nov. 8 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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